The Likud primaries delivered dramatic results on Thursday, shaking up the party’s Knesset slate and pushing long-serving lawmakers to unrealistic slots that will likely leave them out of the Knesset come the Nov. 1 elections.
The party said that some 80,000 of its 140,000 registered members voted in the Aug. 10 primaries, equating to a 58% voter turnout.
With 80% of the votes counted as of noon Thursday, estimates are that when the dust settles, several senior Likud MKs will find themselves outside the top 10. Polls currently give Likud between 34-36 seats, but the chances of anyone outside of the top 10 being named as a minister are slim.
The slate currently taking shape indicates that Likud leader and opposition whip Benjamin Netanyahu will get what he wants in terms of keeping those he considers loyal to him at the forefront of the party.
As of noon local time, Knesset member Yariv Levin was slated to take the Likud’s No. 2 slot, followed by Eli Cohen, Yoav Gallant and David Amsalem, while longtime MKs like Yuli Edelstein, Israel Katz, Gila Gamliel and Tzachi Hanegbi were pushed surprisingly low on the roster.
Still, their placement may change if Netanyahu decides to “upgrade” them to one of the five slots the party has allowed him to reserve on the slate for personal appointments, namely slots 14, 16, 28, 37 and 43.
The list will shift again once the various reserved seats for district nominees and women are applied—a measure Likud takes to ensure equal representation. This arrangement, however, means that for men, any slot lower than 19 dramatically reduces their chances of serving in parliament, with the same going for women placing below the thirty-fifth spot.
With 80% of the votes in, the top 10 Likud members are Netanyahu, Levin, Cohen, Gallant, Amsalem, Amir Ohana, Yoav Kisch, Nir Barkat, Miri Regev, Avi Dichter, and Shlomo Karahi.
Excluding placement of reserves seats across the slate, which will push familiar names further down the list, the placements are as follows:
The second tier—slots 11-20—comprises Miki Zohar, Israel Katz, Danny Danon, David Bitan, Haim Katz, Yuli Edelstein, Galit Distel Atbaryan, Boaz Bismuth, Ofir Akunis and Ofir Katz.
The third tier—slots 21-30—includes May Golan, Eti Atiya, Keti Shitrit, Gila Gamaliel, Erez Tadmor, Tzachi Hangabi, Gilad Sharon, Tally Gotliv, Keren Barak and Uzi Dayan.
Placing on the fourth tier on the slate—31-40—are Orly Levy-Abekasis, Moshe Pesel, Avi Simhon, Dorit Ohana, Moshe Feiglin, Dan Illouz, Ayoob Kara, Tal Yehonatan and Gadi Yevarkan. JNS
